Quand’ero piccola mi
rifugiavo sotto il fico nel giardino dei nonni e giocavo a mamma casetta. Mi
dava un senso di libertà che ho perso strada facendo.
In de kleuterschool
hield ik van huppelen en tekende ik regenbogen en zonnestralen. Kon ik maar
weer kind zijn.
In London – the big
city – I felt like a tiny grown-up. Vulnerable and empowered at the same time.
Three different settings. Three different impressions of one
and the same person, who grew up speaking three languages but can’t seem to
identify with a single one of them. In a previous post (read it here)
I explained my background and my journey through the world of languages. Today
I want to start a series of social experiments with my readers. Ready for the
challenge?
Below you will find a video of me. It’s a short compilation
of spontaneous spoken language. The aim of this first experiment is not to
judge the way I look or the way I edited the video (I’m new to this), but to
explore how you are perceived based on the language you speak. What if you speak more than one language? Do people see you as one and the same person or do they feel you change according to the language you're speaking at a particular point in time? As a trilingual person, I sometimes feel like three different people moulded into one.
Imagine us meeting in Italy and me speaking Italian. What
would be your first impression of me? Would you feel the same way if we met in
Malta with me speaking English or in Belgium with me speaking Dutch?
Does my tone change? Do I sound more confident in one of
these three languages? Does your perception of me change based on the
language I speak?
Leave your comments below. A detailed discussion will
follow.
